It's not on Włókiennicza. This, as a living, is a global version of the common memory. You are surprised because she is joyful, creative, full of inventiveness, bursting with the freshness of associations. “In the 1970s, New Orleans tried to stimulate investment in what later became known as the Warehouse District. It was expected that Piazza d'Italia Will cause a wave of investment in the Warehouse District and throughout downtown New Orleans, will arouse interest in downtown."(...) "In 1974, Charles Moore, a prominent contemporary architect, former dean of the Yale School of Architecture and a proponent of a witty, exuberant design language later termed postmodern architecture was approached to help realize the vision of New Orleans' Italian-American community. In close collaboration
Holidays, with their long, mechanically, ritually repeated tradition, so ancient that they no longer remember what actually differentiates chronos from aion and kairos , even though all three words denote time, invalidate attempts to show that the situation is exceptional, extraordinary, dramatic. In this aspect, holidays are blatantly unfair, favoring those who attack, who introduce changes. Holidays soothe, envelop, hum: loo, loo, baloo. During holidays, any grand game is watched with greater distance, in satiated contemplation. If the game engrosses you, if you identify with someone playing, prepare for a veeery long, mimetic relationship with the gameplay. There will be as many strands – of events, causes, effects, peripeteias, episodes – as there are players. It’s impossible to weave
Doesn’t matter, in Łódź, we are accustomed to massive narrative fantasies and their carefree display. We have tamed them, reacquainted ourselves with them in the 21st century. The city has its rhythm, no longer the old one of three shifts, but still in the old pace: “to the bitter end”, “at a rate”. Łódź flows, Łódź does not sink. Łódź tries to navigate between sometimes fiercely turbulent billows. Łódź is not cinematic; anyone who has been here even once knows how very non-cinematic it is. Łódź is normal, it only wants to reach its destination. As simply as possible, without cinematic plot twists. Will it be left once again with an imaginative structure made of sticks, strips, and ribbons instead of a solid oar in hand? We’ll see, Łódź is a credulous, trusting city, fixated on projection
And very well, thanks to this we are able to relate to the next surprises that everyday life brings. The Russian "Day of Unity" has passed, with an accentuated Łódź thread in article D. Medvedev. Russians have November 4 - the anniversary of the expulsion of "Polish interventionists" from the Moscow Kremlin We have November 11th. We had a few things to do this year. What a trickle of history we like the most is not so important in the face of the challenges brought by 2023. Let's do our job, in a year, only two meme hunters will remember the "concrete" car on the Legions. May it be the same with the Kremlin's prospects for the future of Europe. And if someone needs a reference to history like air, for his own free existence, let him look carefully, as in the photo from 1934 (scaved by
Not the one with braids, but the one discussed with fear at meetings, academies, plenums as a five-year plan that must be realized. Socialism had perfectly bureaucratic plans. Thanks to this, the future was something domesticated, always knowing what not to jump out with foolishly. How is it now? Quite well! Judging by the evolution of the figures of the Person of the Year selected and announced by Times, it will be as before. No pandemics, no ecological fears, no wars. Everyone, more or less systematically and planfully, will do their thing, and in their free time, stare at singers, actresses, stars, and silvery clouds across a thousand channels. Sounds good, almost like the successive five-year plans of the PRL era. Illustration from the left: covers of Time magazine from 2019, 2020
How is a decent, still reading, slightly conservative (but not too much) working intellectual supposed to watch a remake, a farce (vulgar – vulgaris means in Latin just ordinary, common, everyday, known) of the Broadcast of the High Chamber’s Proceedings? How can they not lose touch with the most vital, elementary, ludic layer of national culture (we remember well how this problem tormented Wyspiański a hundred and twenty years ago), and at the same time, not go into internal exile (risky today, they might not let you back in)? How not to lose faith (of the fathers) in revealed truths: in the revitalization, modernization, and leapfrogging democratization of our beloved Ithaca? And such a question will often plague us, in an era of rapidly growing popularity of machines capable of
“During periods of snow accumulation, avoid steep slopes and do not enter dangerous gullies where snow avalanches may occur”. Let’s not pretend. This is a very useful piece of advice. Even when the Central Communication Port (CPK) is established in the heart of Poland, which may be the chosen country, we remain a species not so inclined to flight. Now, in the face of the cold wave, we must face the hard truth: people cannot fly. Not a single one of us. We can’t flee from an avalanche. No one can. Even those bred in military laboratories for the most special tasks can’t fly on their own, by their own strength. Yet, somehow we manage, even in winter. Let’s not fuss over an army of drones precisely delivering hot café lattes and personalized grenades to a specified address. We manage because
although the screen was truly large—even by Atlas standards. We did not sell crisps or settle down in front of the screen. The games are not included in the subscription. It was merely a modest showing in our city. A demonstration. In any event, it was not about how large and extravagant a screen we had. We soon realised that we were staring—that all of us together were staring into the same mirror. This is a painful and, if prolonged, very dangerous kind of gaze. Folk wisdom has always reminded us that the ‘evil eye’ is the beginning of trouble. What should we do when we begin to realise that this is precisely the eye we see not on the screen, but in the mirror? There is no point in seeking a preview of the next—even more interesting—season in such an image; there is only this season
Judging by the journalist’s expression, emotions were ruling everything at that time. By November, we had gotten over it. Try to imagine (back in October) the President’s bare knees. – I advise reading Hrabal. – Jerzy Owsiak convinced us many years ago. However, he never donated Hrabal’s books to our Library 5inLodz.pl. Perhaps it was because of the bare knees… Back in the day, you didn’t just buy books, you had to find them. – You stood in lines, searched in bazaars – Jurek Owsiak used to say. – Your idea is great, these books carry the whole charge of time. They will gain the status of an exhibit. And that’s it. The Library 5inLodz.pl is growing, books are gaining the status of an exhibit with age. We don’t have Hrabal, nor others. We have (and read) Eliade’s Diaries. And there are
Does Penderecki play better than Lewandowski did recently (in the national team)? Is it possible in 2024 to get a grant for reconstructing his scores, obviously using AI? Let’s gossip. Only gossip can counter the concrete-hardening collective memory, a memory of culture as vast and varied as a runway inscribed with neat letters in the right size: Common Good + National Memory. This makes it a type of memory we smoothly deal with. When needed, we all remind ourselves of some figure, usually never met in person, and start writing an essay on a given, anniversary topic. This is the scheme of media interested in culture. If by some miracle such a figure could be placed in the middle of this airport of national memory, from which we continuously try to take off towards the future, the mnemonic
It should be evident to all, since it refers to, sustains, and encompasses everyone and everything, it should not itself cause trouble to anyone. What should be, “but is not, does not get written in the register.” Perhaps from this common, folk belief stems the linguistic and functional stagnation of many constitutions. The more erudite, those not devoid of deep and extensive jurisprudence, constitutionalists refine the wording and interpretation of constitutional articles, the fainter the idea of the constitution in everyday reality appears. A reality that reduces everything, as far as possible, to the simplicity of a game for all. To a game fast, hard, so obvious that our eyes widen in fear. Is the banal, repetitive act of re-writing a text fragment, already printed in sufficient
In long-standing uncertainty, most species either give up or significantly reduce sexual activity. A comparative study of the level of sexualization in images from the second half of the 20th century and this decade’s iconosphere might be a clear proof of a change as uncomfortably noticeable (and lacking in sex appeal) as global warming. In both cases, nobody wants it. Yet, we must go to the elections. In a week, the landscape will begin to lose such picturesque, significant, emotion- and association-stirring surnames. Observing how chance or necessity places candidates side by side, it’s hard to resist the thought that only Franciszek Bohomolec knew how to turn such coincidences into an instructive comedy, for the common good and the improvement of the Republic. This somewhat forgotten
The 34th Comic and Games Festival in Łódź has just concluded. In 1991, at a time when no one knew what the new, “Western” reality in Łódź would look like, the National Convention of Comic Creators appeared. Comics, a quintessentially Western form, are now ubiquitous but still associated with the West and its immersion in an excess of images. Characteristics so typical for Western mentality, such as irony and a tendency to satirically “exaggerate” any depiction of reality, find perfect expression in comics. Comics are a kind of play with what is established, fixed, and inviolable. They are part fairy tale, part baloney, and part blunt accuracy. They are as much a form of narration as they are visual. Notice how, every now and then, some “serious” part of everyday life starts to resemble a
But we also know that a good haggle is needed. Like in trading – quick reflexes are essential. You can be for it or against it, everyone (for each person) will find at least a small, satisfying role for their own fantasy in such a convention. One has to seek a moment of relief amidst the battleground landscape of the surrounding campaigns. We have to survive this, make wise choices, and retain strength for our own plans after the elections. More depends on this than on the elections themselves. All on the house, courtesy of Atlas Sztuki and our collective imagination. Let’s sell Poland! “Selling Poland”, considering the partitions, is an excellent topic for a doctoral thesis, perhaps on 19th century iconography. A theme briefly formulated, working like a stimulus. The 19th century (thus
Isn’t this kind of transformation displayed on the facades of Łódź? It’s worth stating clearly from the start that this festival is akin to the theater, which Grotowski called a degenerated ritual, degenerated because in ancient rituals there were no spectators, only participants. This year, you can go straight from the festival to another dark place: to the cinema (once there were cinemas in Łódź…). Go see “Doppelgänger. The Double” by Jan Holoubek. In such a city, which itself does not know who it is, who it wants to be, when it grows up like older cities, it’s not a bad idea. You may suddenly open your eyes like a Greek epoptes, Łódź is not a city, it is, in Łódź’s own words, Doppelgänger der Stadt. Nothing certain, nothing tangible, rather a phantasmagoria of flashes and projections
Let’s leave it aside when unimaginable things happen. On September 29, 2023, Lech Wałęsa turned eighty years old. An electrician by trade, who signed something on behalf of the majority several times without any authorization. A weave of writing and spirit, not obvious to post-1945 European history, inexplicably transferred directly from a biblical context, overturned the Cold War world order. Soon, more might depend again on our ticks on voting cards than we realize. Just a quirk of fate. A participant in Wałęsa’s 1991 press conference in London confirms that Wałęsa made two remarks there. Only his joke about searching for a wife in an overly spacious royal bed was picked up and publicized by the English press. Wałęsa’s second remark, when asked about his impressions of Windsor, was a
At Atlas Sztuki, we don’t screen feature films. Even if it’s known (even before the premiere) that it may be a work leaving a significant mark in culture. At Atlas Sztuki, we often showed documentaries. Feature films are “displayed and played” at festivals. As long as we stick to the rules adopted by one industry or another, everything is in its place. The red carpet was rolled out in Gdynia, stars and well-known industry figures arrived, and media reports heated up the atmosphere of competition for the Golden Lions award. In such a situation, everyone knows what and when to do. Who should smile, who should not enter the frame of the working teams, who should keep a distaste distance, and who and for how long should enthusiastically elaborate during an interview about the chances for
The decisive things happen quickly, even if it seems to those looking from the side that it lasts forever. Like in maligna, as in one spasm. They don't know how, Always . It's worth seeing, it gives strength, but how to describe it without playing a "live" relationship? Volleyball is great! Thanks to rigid, complicated rules, volleyball at a certain level brazenly hooks on literature. The problem is that literature should also be at a certain level. Great. Looking for an effective adoption of such an atomic game, let's try to put a short hot post-match statement in Leon's mouth. Leon (looking straight into the microphone): "Truly in our bodies there is some great light Balming the body - forms of the host, The immortalition... she gave her golden rays(...)" Holding the microphone: “ Thank
As often as possible, we should take breaks from watching the remarkably vivid, large-format faces and figures of the national scene. They will stay with us at least until mid-October. And with a certain degree of fatigue and irritation, most of us think and decide a bit worse. That’s why breaks are important, where one can detach from what’s close. There’s an opportunity to detach in a cosmic dimension. India has landed on the Moon. Not entirely, for now, though the expression of the Indian Prime Minister promises much. Every strong, effective power in the 21st century relies to some extent on rockets (not necessarily armed). There’s no sign that power can be wielded solely based on programs and technologies that help level social differences, promote healthy behaviors, support culture
The rate of appearance of subsequent comments, articles, advertisements referring to one episode from a supposedly boring football match is noteworthy. Apparently, the culture we live in is well-configured, sensitive, reacting quickly to opportunities that allow you to draw attention to your own products. That's good, it's an argument ( Argumentum ad populum , as it is in the stadium) proving that we live in Western reality, in complex, long chains of symbolic meanings, mostly profit-oriented, pragmatic rationality. It will be easier for us to cope with the attempts to scare that we can all again find ourselves in the middle of the Dante landscape, "halfway" between the West and East, once again land in the Central European swamp, in which no man will look back and a century has already
Before the sunny weekend, on Friday, September 8, at the end of the TVP programme, she decided to remind Channel A. Wajdy. One can only guess which of the factors decided on the issue. For some marketing reason, the strategists of the united right decided to convince the majority of citizens that in 2023 the war with Germany continues. In a moment, whether we like it or not, we will take part in the decisive battle. The second, sadder part of the film drags on in a ghostly, stinking maze under the city. The characters are looking for a signpost, a hint, an inscription, a slogan leading to life. There are two subtitles in the film: Wolf I I love Jack . The latter was probably made by the film liaison Daisy pulling the injured cadet Korab through the screen. If Wajda had not soaked the
We cannot complain of a shortage of news. Płock may be a less than obvious destination for a short trip, but one worth considering. Apart from the delightful, almost Romanesque doors of the collegiate church and a river said to be older still, quietly nibbling away at the high escarpment, a good reason for the journey may be the small exhibition The Transitional Period between a Pillow and a Knife. Revealing great dexterity in arranging meanings and letters, the title could successfully serve generations of political scientists as an apt name for this summer of 2023: in history, somewhere between the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom , ostensibly on the Vistula yet simultaneously in an otherworldly unreality straight from ancient Egypt. Even if it seems to you that our Old Kingdom will
Requires either a mood like from the final scenes Departure ( Taking Off) Miloš Forman, or analytical abilities interpreting the messages of the RPP RP. Nevertheless, it is worth practicing. The most mysterious is the constant (for thousands of years, regardless of the scale of the current war) belief that what is most important either can be written down, signed and sealed, or - paradoxically - spills and flows faster than an ink blob or human blood. All in all, it doesn't matter, as long as it's finally Hyper . "A Polish-Ukrainian service on the anniversary of the Volhynia massacre was held in the Warsaw Archcathedral." In a holiday climate, in shorts, flip-flops, cleats, flowers in your hair, such a ceremony could be acknowledged in short. This time it's not worth it (
Apparently, ecological common sense (especially in the East) suggests for a very long time, in silence, to observe how nature around us is doing great. Like a cycle of seasons, almost like a conjuncture in the economy in the father's way, with strict concern, it reminds various creatures that you have to cope, you have to hurry, you have to hunt for an opportunity. Let's hunt for global publicity of the capital's exhibition at the Ujazdowski Castle. In Western tradition, this wisdom, directly from its own observation, early, already in the cycle of archaic "myths of succession" (as Martin L. West) settled in "fairy tale" mythology. The exhibition was made by an artist from Melbourne, the exhibition upset the Chinese embassy, and interested the Australian embassy. What is the exhibition
